Electoral Candidacy

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The Government intend to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to lower the age at which a candidate may stand for election from 21 to 18 years-old. Such a change in policy is consistent with the recommendation made by the independent Electoral Commission in its report The Age of Electoral Majority, published in April 2004.

Criminal Records Bureau Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I am pleased to announce that the Criminal Records Bureau Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04 has been published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.

Iraq: Update

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Following the expiry of the Dutch mandate in Iraq and the planned withdrawal of its force of 1,400 personnel from Al Muthanna province in Iraq in March, the United Kingdom has, in its role as framework nation, reviewed with allies how security should continue to be provided in this part of Multinational Division (South East) (MND(SE)).
	We have greatly appreciated the valuable contribution made by the Dutch battle group in Iraq. Dutch forces have made good progress in Al Muthanna, both in ensuring the stability of the province and building the capability of the Iraqi security forces (ISF). This means that a significantly smaller force package is now able to perform these tasks and the general officer commanding (GOC) MND(SE) has concluded that a force of some 600 personnel will be adequate to support and mentor Iraqi security forces in providing general security in Al Muthanna, as well as providing protection for the Japanese reconstruction battalion located there.
	The majority of the personnel required will come from UK units already deployed in Iraq, principally the Queen's Dragoon Guards and the 2nd battalion, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. A small number of additional personnel will also need to be deployed to provide logistics and other essential support to the force in Al Muthanna. This will temporarily increase the total number of UK personnel in Iraq by approximately 220, although this will subsequently fall to approximately 150, once the initial deployment to Al Muthanna is completed. Overall, however, the number of UK personnel deployed in Iraq is planned to fall by the end of February as the withdrawal of the Extremely High Readiness Reserve takes place following the Iraqi elections.
	In the meantime, we continue to consult with allies on the best way to meet security tasks in the province.

Iraq: Khamisiyah

Lord Bach: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am publishing today the Ministry of Defence paper Review of Modelling of the Demolitions at Khamisiyah in March 1991 and Implications for UK Personnel. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate recent work undertaken by the US Department of Defense (DoD) which modelled the distribution of nerve agents released by US demolitions of Iraqi chemical weapons at the end of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and to discuss its implications for UK personnel.
	The MoD has assessed the 2002 DoD model carefully and welcomes the improvements incorporated. The model better estimates the size and nature of the possible area of exposure. However, MoD notes that it utilises wide parameters in order to include the maximum number of personnel who could potentially have been exposed to any level of nerve agent. While it is appropriate to include a margin of this kind, MoD believes that the limits used in the model somewhat overstate the potential risk to UK troops. None the less, MoD has used the model for its own analysis and concludes that:
	The model results in a generally smaller geographic exposure area than that described in earlier models.
	As estimated previously, approximately 9,000 UK service personnel may have been within the area of possible exposure, with the closest some 130 km from Khamisiyah.
	The level of nerve agent would have been too low to have any biologically detectable effect on UK troops and would have a minimal impact on health; again this is consistent with previous findings.

English Partnerships: Chairman

Lord Rooker: My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I wish to announce that Margaret Ford has been reappointed as chairman of English Partnerships to serve a further three-year term with effect from 1 April 2005. English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency supporting high quality sustainable growth in England.

Dog and Cat Fur: Imports

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My right honourable friend the Minister for Trade and Investment (Douglas Alexander) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Government promised to report back to both Houses 12 months from my predecessor's Statement to the House on 28 January 2004, (Official Report, Commons, col. 11–12WS) on the alleged import of domestic cat and dog fur into the UK.
	The Government understands the ethical abhorrence felt about this issue. Our priority remains to establish the facts about the extent of this alleged trade and to act in a measured way. To this end, we encouraged interested parties to come forward with hard evidence of such fur being on sale in the UK and we undertook work to establish a reliable scientific test to identify between different species of fur.
	In July 2003 the Government invited interested parties to produce hard evidence of a problem in the UK, but to date there is no substantive evidence that such fur is entering the UK in significant and commercial quantities, if at all.
	The Government have been working in parallel to establish a scientific test to make it possible to ascertain reliably what species of animal any given fur sample has come from. Such a test is essential to enable trading standards officers to address allegations of mislabelling arising under the existing Trade Descriptions Act and to help establish whether domestic cat and dog fur is on sale in the UK.
	Last January we reported back on work commissioned on the "mass spectrometry" means of distinguishing the furs of domestic cat and dogs from that of other animal species. Scientific experts at the former Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC Limited) concluded that "mass spectrometry" was not yet sufficiently reliable.
	The database of fur samples on which the "mass spectrometry" method relies, together with the search algorithms used in testing were improved in the year since the last tests were commissioned. On the basis of new tests commissioned in autumn 2004, LGC Ltd. has concluded that, from this limited trial, the use of MALDI TOF mass spectrometry to identify domestic dog and cat hair from other species is a viable option, although a question mark remains on identifying fur which has been chemically treated.
	The UK keeps in touch with officials in several countries where the possible trade in domestic cat and dog fur is a concern, including the USA, Australia, France, Belgium and Sweden. We will be sharing our findings from the "mass spectrometry" trials with these governments and with all our European partners.
	The Government's position remains that without hard evidence of such imports at commercial levels to the UK, we will not consider legislation and that any action would be most effective if taken at EU level. The Government continue to welcome input and evidence from interested stakeholders and will continue to share information with other governments, particularly those in Europe.

Shipman Inquiry: Fifth Report

Lord Warner: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	In December, my noble friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Warner) announced that the launch of the General Medical Council's revalidation scheme should not start until doubts raised by Dame Janet Smith had been resolved. He said that it would be unfair to doctors and confusing for patients to start the new revalidation scheme until the question marks raised by Dame Janet on the evidence doctors would be required to submit had been answered.
	His announcement followed the publication of the fifth Shipman Report, Safeguarding Patients: Lessons from the past—Proposals for the Future. In her report, Dame Janet Smith made it clear that she had concerns that the GMC's revised fitness to practise and revalidation procedures would not help to improve patient protection or safety sufficiently.
	I take what Dame Janet has said very seriously. I am determined to respond carefully and robustly to her recommendations to ensure that we develop a very strong patient protection plan. We want to put an end to the idea that the General Medical Council is a representative body for doctors. It is not. Its primary role must be to protect patients.
	In order to ensure that it does this effectively I have asked the Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson to undertake a review and report his advice to me on what further measures are necessary to:
	strengthen procedures for assuring the safety of patients in situations where a doctor's performance or conduct pose a risk to patient safety or the effective functioning of services;
	ensure the operation of an effective system of revalidation; and
	reconfigure the role, structure and functions of the General Medical Council.
	I have asked the Chief Medical Officer to report to me later this year. This will minimise any delay to the introduction of measures that will both improve patient safety and ensure that doctors are fit to practise. The Chief Medical Officer will put an emphasis on patient safety. He will draw on the findings and recommendations made by Dame Janet and other inquiries on poor clinical performance and misconduct. An advisory group that includes experts from organisations representing consumer, healthcare quality and professional interests will support him.
	Dame Janet made a number of recommendations not directly covered by the terms of reference of the Chief Medical Officer's review. Our consideration of these recommendations will continue in parallel to the work of the review, focusing particularly on improving measures designed to safeguard patients and improve the quality of the services provided to them.
	The full list of interest groups represented on the CMO's advisory group are:
	Professor Carol Black, President of the Royal College of Physicians
	Professor Sir Graeme Catto, President of the General Medical Council
	Mr James Johnson, Chairman of the British Medical Association
	Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, Chairman of the Healthcare Commission
	Mr Harry Cayton, Director for the Patients and Public
	Dr Sheila Adam, Director of Public Health of the North East London Strategic Health Authority
	Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, President of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
	Professor Angela Coulter, Chief Executive of the Picker Institute
	Ms Janice Barber, Managing Partner at Hempsons Solicitors
	Clara MaKay, Director of Policy and Research at Breast Cancer Care
	Dr Mayur Lakhani, Chairman of Council at the Royal College of General Practitioners
	Mr Michael Morgan, Director of the Change Partnership; former Human Resources Director of Northern Food
	Niall Dickson, Director of the King's Fund
	Malcolm Dean, Journalist at the Guardian Newspaper
	Mrs Karen Straughair, Chief Executive of Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust
	Jenny Simpson, Chief Executive of the British Association of Medical Managers
	Captain Lowe, former Chief Pilot at British Airways
	Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council
	Jane Wesson, Chair of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence

Shipman Inquiry: The Final Report

Lord Warner: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Dame Janet Smith, Chairman of the Shipman Inquiry, published her sixth report Shipman: The Final Report today. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
	Once again the Government express their profound thanks to Dame Janet Smith and her team for their work throughout the lifetime of the inquiry. We also reiterate our sympathy to all the relatives and friends of Shipman's victims and express our thanks to them for their valuable contribution to the inquiry's work.